You guys are Hams too? Cool.

Maybe some of you recognize some of these or Co names. My grandfather Jack was "W3GS" also SCM (Section Communications Manager) for the ARRL Eastern PA section in the early-to-mid 1930s. Later on Chief Engineer for Herbach and Rademan, and El-Tronics, and then President of AEL American Electronic Laboratories. I admired his gear and went on a few transmitter hunts as a young teen. Funny he would only talk to me over dinner in Morse Code .... .- .... .- dit dit dit dit dit dah :)

Sorry to go off thread, but it peaked my curiosity. My grandfather passed when I was young, and he inspired me early on with all of his equipment and tubes!

I'm not a ham, except when I try my hand at comedy. :smoking:

But, I'm sure most here know that Dennis has quite a history and interest in ham radio himself.

Thanks to this thread I just ordered some Psvane cv181 grey glass input tubes. Ouch, said my wallet.

Look for W4USR on the airwaves. But you better know your Morse code since Dennis typically only talks in old school dots and dashes....

These have become my favorite input tubes. There are variants and they do sound different. I seem to gravitate to the CV-181z in my rig. Which one did you choose?

CV181-T Mk 2 which has the grey coating inside the glass. I found a really good deal on them, $129 for a matched pair. I'm curious about longevity - has anyone actually had them in service for more than a year? I've heard a lot of newer Chinese tubes get about a year and then that's it. Russian tubes seem to last longer.

As the new Psvane tubes are made in their own factory, not in the huge Shuguang factory, they could be very different in terms of longevity.

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/com...is-psvane.html

Interesting! So maybe longevity has improved now that they have more direct control.

Makes me wonder - any other "great" tubes from Psvane besides the CV181 that I should check out? What's the consensus on the forum?

I have had the Psvane CV181-T Mk2 tube in my Inspire amp over a year. As my Inspire amp is 1 of 2 systems in my listening room they have about 150 hours on them.

Maybe my problem is I listen to much. It takes about a month to get 150 hrs on my office system. The Chinese tubes I have had have barely lasted a year, though I am running a black glass CV181 which has been in for a while. Still good I think but I have been getting some intermittent noise of late which I have been unable to pinpoint.

I do agree that for new stock the cv181s are the best sounding 6sn7 I have heard. I have been disappointed with their life span and doubt I will buy more.